Guess Who's Back?
by Bluehaven4220
Summary: Lindsay left the New York lab for a quieter existance after Danny broke her heart. Now, with a 7 year old daughter in tow, she returns. Will things change? DL. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This was originally a non CSI fic, but then I thought it would go well with a little DL thrown in. Here's your first taste (it tastes like chocolate). Enjoy!**

* * *

I keep looking at the land laid out in front of me. There's plenty of green grass and blue sky, our little Volkswagen Beetle the only car parked in the parking lot. I hear Mom in the kitchen, making us peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner. There's not a lot to do around here, so when I don't have school I like to sit in the front of the door and watch the day go by. If there's a thunderstorm I'll sit by the window and watchthe lightning flash across the sky.Sometimes I'll watch the cars on the highway, other times I'll draw what I see, but nothing is really interesting.

It's just me and Mom. We live in a two-bedroom apartment, out in the middle of nowhere. We're about 3 miles away from the nearest town, so when we have to go shopping for groceries we have to take the bus. We don't drive the car that much, Mom says cars are just too expensive, and the walk to the bus stop will do us some good.

So that's what we do. We take the bus, except when Mom has to go to work. Even then she usually asks her friend Stephen to come and pick her up. I don't really know Stephen, but he's always bringing me presents. Last time he came over he brought me a new pair of shoes. The white ones with the pink trim, like the ones I asked for for my birthday. Mom said she couldn't get them for me because they were too expensive, and regular tennis shoes would suit me just fine. They were on sale, two pairs for the price of one, so she could get some for herself too.

I don't like that Mom can't get me nice things, but she does the best she can. She was able to get me the glasses I needed so I could see the blackboard at school, and there's always food in the cupboard and in the fridge. The clothes she gets for me are plain, but I don't like all those funny designs all the other girls at school have. Sometimes, when she has time, she makes me my own clothes. Sometimes, when Grandma comes over, she brings clothes for me.

Mom calls me in for dinner. I get up and go in the house, slamming the door behind me. I don't mean to, but the wind is strong. Mom and me sit in front of the TV. We watch a game show, guessing the answers, eating our peanut butter and jelly. I like spending time with Mom; when she's not crabby after coming home from work.

Sometimes she complains about her boss, Mr. Elkins, at her work. She works at a restaurant, and that's why she has to take the bus. We ate there a few times, the food was yummy. Mom works as a waitress, bringing people their food. Last time she took me to work with her I wanted to help. She let me carry a plate of spaghetti out to an older man, and I dropped it on the man's lap. Mr. Elkins yelled at her, so she said I can't come to work with her anymore. Grandma has to baby-sit me. Mom leaves early in the morning, and works till late at night. When she's home on weekends I ask her why she can't just get a new job if she doesn't like Mr. Elkins.

No Madison, she says, it's not that easy.

Well I wish it was. If Mom liked her job she'd be so much happier, and she'd work harder, and we'd have more money. But that's not fair to Mom. She works hard, and she loves me. If she didn't love me we wouldn't be Mom and Madison.

"Tomorrow we'll go to the store and see if we can find you something nice," she said suddenly, bringing out a few extra dollars from her pocket. "The tips were good today."

I've never seen so much money in Mom's hand before. I want to say that I would love to go shopping with her for something nice, but just yesterday I heard her talking about needing a new transmission for the car. When we went to the shop the repairman said it was going to cost $500 to fix it. Last night she sat at the kitchen table, adding and subtracting numbers on pieces of paper, trying to find the extra money.

"No Mom," I said, pushing her hand away, "you need to keep it. For the new transmission."

"Are you sure, Maddie?" Mom asks, putting the money back into the pocket of her jeans, her shirt getting in the way. "With this much we could get you that sweatshirt you were asking for."

New sweatshirt? Oh, yeah. I asked Mom for one of the sweatshirts that my friend Margie has. Some girls have one or two, but only Margie has a light pink one. It has a picture of a butterfly on the shoulder. When I first asked Mom for it she said no. She had too many other things to spend money on besides a sweater with a butterfly on it. She said I could easily get a light pink sweater with no butterfly on it for half the price and it would be just as good. Now that I look at the money in Mom's hand I realize that she needs the money so she can get to work, and I don't _really _need that sweater all that much.

Nearly forgetting her question, I nod.

"Okay," she gives me a quick kiss on the forehead, and we hear a knock at the door. I put down the crust from my sandwich and go open the door. It's Stephen, and he has a plastic bag in his hand. I smile up at him and let him in.

"Hey Lindsay," he calls to my mother, slipping his shoes off and going into the living room.

"Hey there," she gets up and gives him a quick hug, "what's in the bag?"

"Oh, uh, just some groceries and a shirt for Madison," he pulls out the sweater. It's the light pink sweater with the butterfly on the shoulder, just like the one I asked for. I am so excited over this addition to my closet that I run over to him and hug him around the waist. He's so tall; that's as far as I can reach.

"Whoa there, squirt!" he pats my head, attempting to steady himself on his feet. "You're welcome."

I'm so excited that I want to model it for them right away. I pull it on over my head, getting stuck on the hole that my head is supposed to go through.

"Here," Mom helps me get my head through the hole and my arms through the sleeves. I giggle as I twirl around, my skirt flaring out.

"You look very pretty," Stephen says, smiling at me. "Oh, uh, Lindsay, someone called for you just after you left the restaurant today." I see him turn to talk to Mom.

"They did? Who was it?" she asks.

"Some guy named Danny."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Danny?" I hear Mom say, "Danny who?"

"I don't know," Stephen answers, "he just left his first name, said he knew you from your days in New York."

I see Mom breathe a hard breath and turn away from him. I guess she knows you Danny is, and she doesn't like it.

"Maddie, go to your room," she tells me. She has that look on her face. The look that says "Us grown-ups have something to talk about and we don't want you to hear it." But it doesn't matter. My room is so close to everything else in the house I can hear everything. Just to make her happy, I leave, and I close my door.

I press my ear up to the painted wood on my door. On the other side, Mom and Stephen sit on the couch. It's muffled, but I can still hear what they're saying.

"_Lindsay, who's Danny?"_

"_Danny… was someone I knew a long time ago. I was a crime scene investigator in New York, and Danny was a colleague."_

"_A CSI?" _I hear Stephen's shocked reaction. _"And you came back to Montana to work as a waitress? Lindsay, with your background you could be making so much more of yourself!"_

"_Well a CSI just wasn't what I wanted. After Danny broke my heart I couldn't stand to be in that line of work anymore."_

This Danny guy broke Mom's heart? Where?

I tiptoe out of my bedroom and into the bathroom. I open up the medicine cabinet and find a Band-Aid. I take it out to Mom, who looks at me, confused.

"What's this for?"

"For your heart, Mom. You said that Danny guy broke it." I tell her in my most innocent voice.

"Oh baby," she wraps me in her arms, hugging me. I can tell she's crying as she giggles at my offering. I don't usually do that sort of thing, but Mom said Mr. Elkins yelled at her again today, and I thought she needed some cheering up.

Stephen is just watching. I think he just likes to watch how Mom and me are when he's there. He's a nice guy, sure, but sometimes I just want him to go home! He spends too much time here anyway.

I go back to my room after kissing Mom on the cheek. I press my ear up to the door again after I hear them start to talk again.

"_So who is Danny anyway? Was he just a colleague, a friend…" _I hear Stephen ask again.

This is getting good. I want to know. Why does this guy get Mom so worked up if he's from New York and she hasn't seen him for a while?

"_He's Maddie's father." _

WHAT?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

This Danny guy is _my _daddy? Why was I not informed? I want my _daddy!_ A few minutes ago I didn't even have a dad, and now I know that he lives in New York.

I reach under my bed and pull out a backpack. I start to stuff it full of my pajamas, my teddy, and some M&M's if I get hungry on the way. I close it up and put it on my back. When Mom and Stephen aren't looking I go out the front door.

I think I was about 6 miles down the highway when Mom and Stephen pulled up beside me.

"Madison, what are you doing?" Mom sticks her head out the window and yells.

"I'm walking."

"Yeah, I see you're walking, but where are you going?" I can tell the car is moving very slowly so Mom can talk to me.

"To New York?" I say tentatively.

"New York? What for?" Mom is getting mad now. I can see the vein in her temple throbbing. I didn't even know it was there.

"To see Dad…"

Oh, shouldn't have said that. Mom is _really _mad now. She gets out of the car and pulls me to her. She almost shoves me into the back seat of Stephen's car, and we drive home. She's so mad that she tells me I'm grounded for a month, no TV, no radio, or phone. We get home and I run to my room, slamming the door.

"All I wanted was to know that I have a daddy!" I yelled, crying as I throw my blankets off my bed. "Why won't you let me see him?" I'm screaming now, unable to control myself. "I HATE YOU!" I keep screaming. "I HATE YOU. I HATE YOU. I HATE YOU!" I launch myself into a tantrum, kicking walls and throwing my books around the room.

* * *

Stephen rubbed his forehead, his elbows resting on the countertop by the sink. He couldn't _stand _to see little children upset. "That's quite a set of lungs she's got."

"Oh I know… I don't know what to do with her anymore," Lindsay was literally kicking herself. "I _never_ expected her to find out about Danny. I didn't _want_ her to find out about Danny, she doesn't need him to come into her life and walk out again. He did that to me, I will _not_ let him do that to her."

"Don't you think she has a right to know who her daddy is?" Stephen reasoned with her, "after all, he _is_ her dad. Does he know?"

Lindsay shook her head. "I left New York before I told him."

"Go back to New York," Stephen told her over the screams of the enraged 7 year old in the next room. "Let Danny see the beautiful little girl you two created. If she was my daughter I'd want to know about her."

Lindsay exhaled sharply and pondered her next move.

"Fine," she finally agreed, "hand me the phone."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A week after my attempt to walk all the way to New York Mom and me are on a plane. Stephen was very nice and paid for our tickets. I was super excited… I'd never been on a plane before and I was _finally_ going to meet my dad! Mom didn't seem too happy about it though. Something tells me she doesn't like Danny very much. But now we're going back to New York, and the plane's about to land.

We get off the plane and someone is waiting for us in the terminal. She has curly brown hair, she's very tall, and very nice looking. Mom recognizes her because I see her smiling.

"Hi Stella," she says when we reach this woman.

"Lindsay, it's been a while," Stella hugs her, and then looks at me. "Who's this?"

"I'm Madison…" I say. "Madison Diana Monroe."

"Nice to meet you Madison," Stella bends down to shake my hand. She treats me like I'm a grown-up! I like Stella already.

We walk out to Stella's car and we drive to what Mom calls the crime lab. I can come in, but I'm not allowed to touch anything or talk to anyone unless Mom says it's okay. There are things in there that are extremely fragile, she says,and not meant for little hands.

When we get inside, the lab is so big I get lost as soon as we pass the front doors.

"Mom?" I shout, wondering where she might have gone. I'm walking down the hallway when I suddenly bump into the waist of someone I don't know.

He bends down to look at me. He's wearing glasses, like me.

"What's your name?"

Mom says "Don't talk to strangers." So I say nothing. A few seconds after he asks me the question I hear Mom running down the hallway.

"Maddie?" she shouts, running toward me and scooping me up in her arms. She hugs me tight and says "Don't ever do that to me again, I thought you'd been stolen!" She looks over my shoulder at the stranger I'd met only a few seconds ago.

"Danny…" I can tell she's nodding.

Danny? My daddy Danny?

"Lindsay…" he nods back. "Who's this?" he's talking about me.

"This is Maddie," she nudges me, encouraging me to turn around.

"Hello." I say, using my most innocent voice.

I realize that I'm looking at my daddy, and I don't know what to say.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Hi Maddie," Danny says, looking at me. He has eyes just like me. "How old are you?"

"7," I answer, burying my face in Mom's shoulder. Danny doesn't seem too bad. He seems interested in me.

"That's cool," he says, not at all like a dad would say. "You know, the last time I saw Lindsay…I mean, uh, your mom, was seven…" he stops, and I can't tell what he's thinking.

Mom sets me back down on the ground, and right then and there Stella comes by, and takes my hand. I haven't had lunch yet, and I can feel my tummy rumbling. She takes me to the cafeteria, and she buys me a sandwich. I sit with her for lunch, wondering what Mom and Danny are talking about. I try to imagine what's happening between them.

* * *

"So Lindsay…" Danny started, not happy at all, "is Maddie..."

"Yes," she answered.

"Why?" he asked, "why didn't you tell me?"

"I'd already left by the time I found out," she said, "besides, you were already with that leggy blonde from Staten Island, who was I to mess up your life?"

"Lindsay, no matter what the circumstances, I would've been there for you." Danny insisted, "You think that after seven years I'd forget that night we shared?"

"No but…"

"But what?" Danny asked. "Lindsay, because of you not tellin' me 'bout Maddie, I don't even know the precious little thing sittin' in the cafeteria with Stella!" he kept the rage swelling in his throat to a minimum. "I want to be there for you guys, I really do."

Lindsay snorted. "Sure you do Messer."

Danny was almost beyond words. He was trying his damnedest to be the good guy, the guy interested in the bombshell dropped on his head not 30 minutes before. Lindsay hadn't left any forwarding address, so he hadn't been able to contact her. And he'd tried… oh how he'd tried.

"I do, I really do," he insisted. "Lindsay, I really want to be there for you and Maddie. She's an absolute doll. What have you two been doing these seven years?" Danny still couldn't believe he had a little girl… she was so beautiful, looked just like her mother, she did.

Lindsay nearly laughed. "I've been working as a waitress."

"A _waitress_?" Danny was shocked, "with your degree? Fuck me. Lindsay…"

"Been there, done that."

"Why the hell are you waitressing? You have a fucking science degree!"

"I know, I know…" she laughed, "but you should have seen what happened when I took Maddie to work with me one time. She decided she wanted to help me with carrying a big order, so I let her carry a plate of spaghetti to the table..."

Now Danny was listening. He wanted to hear more about what his girl had been up to.

"And… oh my God, it was hilarious! She was almost to the table when she tripped over her feet and the spaghetti landed in the guy's lap!"

Danny burst out laughing. There was the Lindsay Monroe he remembered. He loved the way her eyes closed and her nose clinked when she laughed, and the pitch of her voice at these moments was absolutely perfect.

* * *

I walk back to the room where I left Mom and Danny. When I get closer I can hear Mom laughing. I peek in the doorway and she Mom and Danny laughing together. I think they're telling old stories.

"…in the guy's lap," I hear as I'm about to leave. Oh great… she's telling him about the time I dropped a plate of spaghetti into a customer's lap at the restaurant. Now he's laughing, and I peek again.

Now Danny's hugging Mom, and he's kissing her.

_Danny's kissing my Mom?_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Eew! That's disgusting! Mom and Danny _kissing_? She hasn't seen the guy in seven years and now she's _kissing_ him? I don't like it. That's my Mom… Mom doesn't have boyfriends. Mom works at the restaurants and complains about Mr. Elkins and has Stephen comes over to bring me presents, but she doesn't have _boyfriends_. She's my MOM!

"Maddie." Stella walks by and takes my hand again. "C'mon, I'll show you the rest of the lab."

So down the hall we go. We go into a room where there's pictures lying on glass, and there's a light on underneath. Someone else is hanging other pictures up on a clothesline… and they aren't very nice pictures either.

"What does the light do?" I ask, trying not to look at the yucky pictures.

"It helps me see anything I might have missed when I took the picture," Stella says as she puts on a pair of gloves and picks it up. "Now here there's a piece of a… footprint there. I didn't see that when I took the print…" I see her bend over the table and pull out a small glass to look at it even closer. She's working… so I leave and walk down the hall, searching for something new. I bump into an older man when I turn the corner.

"Hi…" I say when I look up at him. He's got wrinkles, and eyes that look like he's seen a ghost. He's not smiling, but he's not mad either.

"Who are you?" he asks when I don't say anything else.

I point to the door where I saw Mom and Danny. "That's my mom in there."

"That's your mom in there?" he repeats. He looks in the door. I can tell Mom and Danny aren't kissing anymore, they're just talking.

"Lindsay?" I hear the man say as he goes into the room.

"Mac?" she seems a little shocked. Why? This Mac person isn't going to hurt her. "Oh God, where's Maddie?"

"Who's Maddie?" Mac asks, clearly not getting who I am, even after I said Mom was indeed my Mom.

"ME!" I pipe up, smiling.

I hear Danny snort, almost like he's going to laugh! Don't laugh, it's not funny! I suddenly don't like Danny very much, even if he is my dad. If I don't break them up soon Danny's going to take Mom away from me and I'll hafta go live in Stephen's house.

And Stephen's house smells funny.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

I have to come up with a plan… Mom and Danny can't be together! Mom is supposed to be my Mom, not Danny's girlfriend! Maybe I could pretend to be sick, and then we'd have to go home… no, then Mom'll put me to bed with chicken noodle soup. I hate chicken noodle soup, except when Grandma Monroe makes it.

I could… say Grandpa Monroe is sick and that we have to go home… no, that's not a nice thing to do. Grandpa Monroe would get mad, and say he's just fine, thank you.

I could… tell Mom Danny has a horrible disease that if we stay in New York she'll catch it and get really sick and then it'll be bad for both of us. No, I can't prove that, that's too hard.

I give up! I don't know what to tell Mom to make sure they don't get together. I could kick and scream and whine, but then I'd get a smack on the bum. Mom doesn't let me scream and kick and whine. She says its "immature" and "childlike", well _hello! _I _am_ a kid! I'm seven years old!

Danny may be my dad, but he's not. He wasn't there for a long time, and now he wants to steal my Mommy from me. Well, he's not going to. Mom is my Mom.

And I'm gonna make sure he knows it.

* * *

Lindsay and Danny sat in the break room, cups of coffee in hand. It had been seven years since they'd talked to each other, and now here they were, on the same couch Maddie had been conceived on.

"So…" Danny began, pursing his lips. "How have you been?"

"Well…" Lindsay pushed the air out of her lungs, "since giving birth to your daughter, Danny, I've miscarried her twin sister, been on welfare twice, battled her grandparents for custody, _and _recovered from breast cancer."

Danny was in utter shock, "What?"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Lindsay…" Danny began, "I… I had no idea."

"Of course you didn't," Lindsay took a long sip of her coffee. It tasted bitter and the acidity burned her throat. "You never bothered with Maddie, why should you bother about her mother?"

"That's a crock of shit and you know it!" Danny protested. "I was _heartbroken_ after you left! I could barely make it in to work, that's how upset I was!" he threw his full cup of coffee at the wall. It splattered everywhere and ran down the length of the wall. "And when I did, I spent my entire _day_ searching for you, Lindsay!"

"Really? So why did I never get a phone call, a letter? _Something_ to let me know you still cared?"

"You didn't _leave_ anything!" Danny answered, "Ask _anyone _in the lab and they'll tell you the exact same thing!" he was getting frustrated, and it was killing him. He loved Lindsay… he'd never stopped loving her, but how could he prove it to her?

"Lindsay… I promise I'll do whatever it takes to prove that I love you…."

* * *

I hear Mom and Danny having a fight. Good! Now maybe they won't want to be together, and I can have Mom back. Keep fighting, this is cool!

"You don't love me Danny! I was just another notch on your belt!" I hear Mom say.

Huh? What does _that_ mean?

"You were _never_ a notch on my belt, Lindsay. I wanted to marry you, and you turned me away!"

Danny wanted to marry Mom? No no no no no no no! That wasn't supposed to happen! He was supposed to go away and leave us alone!

"NO!" I scream, running down the hall, "Stop fighting! Stop fighting! Stop fighting!" I'm screaming again, and I'm kicking the wall. I see Mom run out into the hall. She's trying to hold on to me, but I push her off. Danny is trying to help, but I hit him in the chest. "GO AWAY!" I scream, and now I'm crying.

"Madison Diana Monroe!" Mom scolds, "You will go sit in the corner until this temper stops!"

She picks me up and sits me in a corner on a chair.

"I DON'T WANT DANNY TO TAKE YOU AWAY!" I scream, scuffing my shoes on the white walls and I know Mom has wide eyes, like she's surprised. "IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE YOU AND ME! DANNY'S GONNA TAKE YOU AWAY FROM ME!"


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Yes, my dear readers. Thereare references to spanking in this chapter. Ifthis upsets you, please tell me and I'd be more than happy to discuss it with you. Well there's your next taste, happy chapter reading!

* * *

Chapter 9**

Now I'm pouting. I had hoped the temper tantrum would let Mom know that I wanted to go back home… leave New York and never come back. I'm not allowed out of the chair until Mom says I can. It feels like I've been sitting here for _hours._

"Mom, can I get up now?" I shout to her in the other room. She's in the lab now, doing something, but I don't know what it is.

"No, you still have 5 minutes on that chair!" she shouts back.

"But I've been sitting here for _hours_!" I complain. "I wanna get up!"

"You have not… you've been sitting there for about 15 minutes. I told you your punishment was for twenty minutes."

I pout, sticking out my bottom lip.

"You need to apologize to Danny too. That was unfair and extremely rude."

I don't say anything. My bottom lip is still sticking out, like I care what Danny has to do with this. I don't like him, and I never will. He's trying to take Mom from me, and I don't like it. He's mean.

"Did you hear me Madison?" she says as I watch the wall. The wall is more interesting than what Mom has to say.

"Yes," I grunt. That's all she's going to hear from me.

* * *

Mac and Stella walked by the little girl sitting in a chair facing the wall. Lindsay, who was keeping a watchful eye on them both, gave them a stare that commanded a "Leave her be until I say so," kind of obedience.

The two detectives went into the lab and asked for the results Lindsay had been looking over. She wasn't doing any case work, because she wasn't an employee, but she enjoyed looking over statements and results, to see if she could spot anything.

"What is she doing in the corner?" Stella pulled Lindsay aside.

"She had a temper tantrum, pushed me into the wall, hit Danny in the chest, and screamed so loudly I'm sure the entire lab heard it. So, she has to sit in the corner as punishment."

"A seven year old?" Mac was astonished she could act that way.

"She's a little kid, Mac. Little kids do that sort of thing." Stella interjected.

"Believe you me; I would have spanked her had I been given the chance." Lindsay answered.

Stella's mouth dropped open.

"Don't look at me like that." Lindsay admonished. "I think spanking a child once in a while is an acceptable move. Not a beating… just a nice firm slap on the behind as a correction for misbehaviour, if it's warranted." Lindsay handed the file to Stella and walked to Madison sitting on the chair. "Madison, you can get up now."

* * *

Mom said I can get up? Yay! I shoot up out of my makeshift "prison" and immediately see Mom holding out her hand.

"I have togo say I'm sorry, don't I?" I ask quietly.

"Yes you do," she tells me, "you know better than to throw a temper tantrum, Maddie. That's unacceptable."

"I know," I answer, my words coming out like squeaks.

We walk down the hall to a place where there's a mirror. Danny's standing in front of it, watching another man talk to a bad guy. I heard him walk in while I was in time-out. I don't know who the other guy is, but Danny is watching on one side, and the guy is on the other.

"Danny?" I tug at his pocket on his pants. Maybe there's candy in that pocket.

He bends down and looks at me. "Yes, Maddie?"

I'm…" I look back at Mom, who's watching me. She looks at me like she's saying "Go on."

"I'm sorry."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

I see Danny reach up and ruffle my hair. He's smiling at me, like I'm really his little girl. No… I still don't like him and I know he's trying to take Mom from me.

"Mom, can we go home now?" I ask, going back to her.

"Hey, uh, shift's almost over, Linds. What do ya say I take you and Maddie out to dinner tonight?"

Dinner? Did Danny say he wanted to take us out to dinner? Cool!

"Sure…" Mom says, "I think we've both had enough of peanut butter and jelly huh Squirt?"

"Uh huh…" I answer. It's true… Mom and me have eaten peanut butter and jelly all week. It's nice that Danny wants to give us some time together but _I do not like him, I do not like him, I do not like him.

* * *

_

"What about this?" I hold up a sundress Grandma made for me. It's a nice yellow colour with a design that just reaches my knees.

"Yeah, that's fine," Mom helps me pull it over my head while we're getting ready for dinner. Danny is gonna pick us up from the hotel where we're staying. Mom's room phone rings and says we'll be down there right away. She finishes taking a hairbrush through my hair and we go downstairs.

Danny is there waiting. He's wearing a suit, and I almost start laughing. Mom looks like she's biting her tongue, trying not to say something that could hurt his feelings.

"Wow, you two look gorgeous." Danny says, holding out his hand for Mom, or maybe he wants to hold my hand, I don't know. I don't take it.

"You're not so bad yourself," Mom says. We get into the car and drive to the restaurant. It's a place called Acappella. We walk in and I see the chef cooking out by a table. He just lit something on fire.

"Cool!" I whisper. "Mom, can we sit there?"

Danny almost laughs as the waiter comes to see us. Danny says "Reservations for Messer", and we're led to our table. It's right by the kitchen, so we can watch the chef. That's awesome! I actually get to see my food being made.

"Anything to drink?" the waiter asks as he gives us menus.

"I'll have a white pinot," Mom says. White pinot? That's wine, isn't it? I didn't know Mom liked wine.

"And I'll have a Perrier, I'm driving," Danny says.

"And you, miss?" the waiter asks me.

"Oh, um, ginger ale please," I say, using my manners so Mom doesn't have to remind me.

"Excellent choices, I'll be right back," the waiter leaves and now the table's quiet. It's almost scary.

"Uh…" I say, "Mom, did you know I brought the sweater Stephen gave me?"

"You did?"

"Yeah, it's at the hotel."

"That's nice." I can tell she doesn't really care about my sweater, but I'm trying to say something so the table isn't quiet.

"Who's Stephen?" Danny asks.

"He's Mom's friend," I tell him, "every time he comes to visit he brings me something."

"Like what?"

"Uh, shoes, or a sweater, sometimes paper and pencil crayons, I like to draw."

"Are you good?"

"I guess so," I say. I don't really know. Mom said when I was three I ended up colouring on the wall with a purple marker, and it took her weeks to clean it up. There was another time when I decided I was going to paint my bedroom, and I was going to do it with peanut butter. She said it actually looked pretty good, but then she got mad and sent me into the living room so she could scream in peace before having me wash the walls.

"Show me," Danny pulls a piece of paper from his jacket and a pen. I set to work while the waiter comes back with our drinks. I don't know what I'm drawing yet, but when it comes out I think it'll look good.

"Ready to order?" the waiter says as he sets my ginger ale in front of me.

"Uh, sure," I hear Danny say, but I don't look up, I'm too interested in what I'm doing. "I'll have the saltinbocca alla romana. Sounds nice."

"And you, ma'am?" he says to Mom.

"What do you recommend?" she asks.

"The Bresaola, ma'am. It's a spice-rubbed, air-cured beef from the Valtellina region of Lombardia, it's served carpaccio-style with fontina cheese, greens, and truffle oil to highlight the beef's gamey flavor."

"Carpaccio, does that mean raw?" Mom asks, like it's something strange.

"Yes ma'am."

"Okay, I'll try it." I can tell she's handed the menu back to him.

"Miss, what would you like?" he asks me.

"Could I please have spaghetti and tomato sauce?" I ask, looking up from my drawing. It's almost done anyway, and I can feel my tummy growling.

"Just plain, nothing on it?"

"Yes please," Manners again, like always.

"No problem," the waiter takes Danny's and my menu and goes to the kitchen.

"What did you draw?" Danny asks before I let him look. I don't even know what I drew, I just let my hand talk.

I look down and see. It's a picture of Mom and Danny holding hands in front of a big house, and I'm in the middle. The sun is in the sky, and we're all smiling. Underneath the picture I wrote "Mom", "Danny", and "Madison"—My family.

What? Is that what I drew? Really?


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

I look down at the paper, and I don't know what to say. It's an okay drawing, but there are no colours. It needs colours.

But at this restaurant they wouldn't have crayons would they? Oh well. I'll colour it when we get back to the hotel. Mom takes it from me so the waiter can put the food down on the table. She asks the server for a small plate on the side, because there's _a lot_ of spaghetti on my plate, and I can't eat that much!

Mom puts some on the smaller plate and asks the waiter to wrap the rest of it up. When he leaves she looks at the picture I drew. She giggles and hands it to Danny, who still doesn't know what's happening.

He looks at me with the picture in his hand. His eyes say something like, "Can I hug you?" I may be seven, but I know that look. I slide off my chair and go over to him. I put my arms around him slowly. I don't know if I want to do this… why should I hug the guy who's trying to steal my Mom from me?

He hugs me back, and I see another mom walk by, she's watching us.

"Isn't it nice to see a father and daughter act like that?" she says to the man beside her. She says it very quietly, but I hear it.

Wait a minute; did she just say father and daughter? I don't _feel _that way. Danny doesn't _feel _like my dad, I don't feel like his daughter. I'm _hugging _him, why isn't Mom saying anything? Why is she just watching? Shouldn't she say something?

* * *

Lindsay couldn't do anything but watch the interaction between her daughter and Danny. She had never expected Maddie to really warm up to Danny, it had taken her awhile too.

She watched as Maddie let go of Danny and sat back down in her seat. They were still waiting for their meals (Maddie's had come first since it was very simple to prepare), and she was being very patient, Lindsay observed.

The table was quiet again, and it was uncomfortable.

"Lindsay?" Danny broke through her train of thought and looked her seriously in the face.

"Hmm?"

"Would you consider moving back to New York?"


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

_Move back to New York? _Lindsay thought.

"What?" she asked.

"Would you consider moving back to New York?" Danny asked again. He'd made the mistake of not coming after her after she'd left the first time, and now he was paying dearly for it. He'd realized, in the short time she'd been back, that he'd made the biggest mistake of his life in not doing right and going after the woman he knew he loved.

"Um..." she chuckled slightly, "I don't know, Danny." she looked over to the other side of the table as their meals were brought to them. It all looked wonderful. Surely he'd expect her to help pay.

Madison sat quietly, studying her reaction.

"Mama," she began.

* * *

_Mama?_ I bite my tongue. I don't remember the last time I called my mom Mama. And in a restuarant too!

"I don't wanna move to New York," I tell her sheepishly. "I like Montana. I have friends, and Grandma and Grandpa Monroe are there, and Grandpa was showing me how to rope a calf."

"Ropin' a calf?" I hear Danny ask. He sounds surprised. What? Didn't he know that that's what we do in Montana? When you go over to your family's house you help. Sometimes Grandma Monroe will ask me to help in the kitchen, but when I stir the mashed sweet potatoes I usually burn them. After the second or third time of messing up dinner, Grandpa Monroe said it would probably be better if I helped him out in the barn.

* * *

_FLASHBACK_

_"Oh, darn it!" I cried, the sweet potatoes sticking to the bottom of the pot. It was starting to smoke... I was burning it! Phewy! It was the second time I'd done it._

_"Oh Maddie..." Grandma Monroe gets me a gentle bump of her hip and I'm suddenly out of the kitchen. _

_"I'm sorry Grandma Monroe..." I say._

_"This is the second time, Maddie," she says, breathing hard as she moves the pot to a different part of the stove. "I told you, dear, if it starts to smoke, you move the pot!"_

_"I forgot!" I shout._

_"Don't you shout at me!" she turns to me and gives me a smack on the bum. "You're just like your mother! I swear, she moved to New York, got herself mixed up with the wrong type of people and now look where you are!" she breathing hard again, and I see her turn back to the pot of mashed potatoes._

_I start to cry and run outside. Grandpa Monroe is out in the field with the calves and ponies. I run to the fence and climb halfway up so I can see what he's doing. _

_"Hey Grandpa Monroe!" I shout to him. See, out here it doesn't matter. I can shout AS LOUD AS I WANT, and Grandpa Monroe won't say anything about it. "Whatcha doin'?"_

_"Tryin' to break this calf, honey!" he shouts back. All that means is that he's trying to make the calf a little more calm._

_"Can I help?" I shout, more asking a question very loudly. _

_"Not with this part!" he shouts again. "It's too dangerous for a girl your size! Why don't you go into the barn and muck out the stall for the pony?"_

_Muck out the stall? Eeew! Moving all that horse poop around? Yuck!_

_"Okay!" I'm wearing a pair of jeans, so I can hop over the fence and off I go. _

_When Grandma calls us into the kitchen for supper, Grandpa and me are all covered in muck and guck, so I hafta have a bath before supper. Mom comes to the house after work to pick me up, and Grandma says she should stay for supper too. When I get dressed again after my bath, Mom is waiting with Grandma and Grandpa, and we sit down for supper. Grandma made beef stew, and the almost burned mashed potatoes are there too. For dessert, which I helped make, 'cause I like to help with that part, we had chocolate cake. YUMMY!_

_We have to go home now, and Mom hugs Grandma before we go._

_"Thanks for looking after Maddie, Mom. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it." I hear her say._

_"My pleasure dear..." Grandma says. "Mind you watch that mouth on her though. Never had that problem with you."_

_"Gets that from her father." Mom grumbles. She'd mentioned him before, but not his name, and not where he lived, so I didn't know much about him. Just that I had his mouth.

* * *

_

"Yeah," I answer as I poke at my spaghetti.

"Sounds cool," Danny nods, taking a bite of his... whatever it was he ordered.

Mom still isn't saying anything. She takes a bite and swallows. That meat looks pretty darn rare to me, but didn't they say it was raw? Mom's pretty brave to try something like that!

"When's your flight home?" Danny asks Mom as he takes a drink.

"In a couple of days," Mom says. "Stephen bought as the tickets.

"Sure seems like a nice guy," Danny says.

"Meh, he's nice enough," Mom says. "Why?"

"I got the day off tomorrow. I was wonderin' if you, me, and Maddie could do somethin'."

"Like what?" I take a bite of my spaghetti.

"I don't know, what do ya wanna do?" Danny asks me. He's asking me what _I _wanna do? He wants to know what a seven year old wants to do on her first day in New York?

"Can we go shopping?" I ask.

Ha ha, Danny made a face.

"Maddie..." Mom says, putting her fork down and her plate and looking me in the eye. "Despite evidence to the contrary, with this nice dinner and all, Danny is not a bank. We can't keep asking him to spend a lot of money on us, that's not polite."

"Huh?" Danny asks. Is that a twinkle I see in his eye? "Since when do you care 'bout bein' polite, Lindsay?"

"Don't start up with me!" Mom's temper is flaring up again, I can see the vein in her temple.

Oooh, they're gonna start fighting... COOL!


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Mom and Danny are gonna fight? In a restaurant? This is better than I thought! This is good, for a few minutes I thought Mom was gonna say she wanted to go back to New York and live there _with Danny._ You know what? _Anywhere _but New York with Danny is better than what's going on right now.

"Pardon me, madam Lindsay," Danny was saying something weird. "Geez, I can't ask a simple question?"

"No, you can, but you know what that was, Daniel Messer?" I see Mom getting mad. "_That_ was a blatant disregard for how I want to raise my daughter."

"I..."

"You know, _I came back to New York so she could meet you. _I didn't even want her to find out about you!" She grabs my hand and pulls me out of my chair. "Come on, Maddie, let's go, we're leaving."

I see Danny getting up and trying to stop her, but we're out the restaurant's door before he can untangle his legs. Mom's almost pulling me along the sidewalk before I start yelping, almost like a puppy.

"Mom, my feet!" I yell. I'm only wearing my sandals, and my toes are scraping the pavement. There's little spots of blood showing up.

"Oh geez!" Mom stops and looks down. "Okay..." she bends down and picks me up. Now she's gonna have to carry me all the way back to the hotel. "Aww, Maddie, I'm sorry. I forgot you were only wearing your sandals."

"That's okay Mom, it's just a little scrape." I say, trying to be brave. I don't know why we're running so fast when we're not in danger. I guess Mom just wants to get back to the hotel before Danny catches up with us... she's still really mad.

"TAXI!" I hear her yell, waving her arms. I guess that's what 'flagging' means. Just as the taxi is about to pull up, I see Stella in her car just down the street. She waves at me, and I tug on Mom's hand.

"Mom, look! There's Stella!" I whisper loudly. mom turns her head and sees her there. We go over to her car and we get in. I strap my seat belt on in the back seat and wait until Mom gets in. We drive around, and go back to Stella's apartment. We go inside, and I sit on her couch. It's comfy.

"Thanks so much, Stella. I really wasn't expecting you to show up just after we'd left the restaurant." Mom says, getting a cup of coffee from her and then handing me a cup of cocoa. I sip it slowly, so I don't burn my tongue.

"Ice cream?" Stella asks, opening the freezer.

"I'd love some, thanks." Mom answers. She catches the small container that Stella throws at her with two hands. Stella puts one down in front of me. It's a little container of Ben and Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk, my favourite! I take a spoon from her, open the container, and dig in. Mom always tells me, "All things in moderation", and I think that means that I can have a little bit, just not too much. I don't wanna get a tummy ache, so I take a few spoonfuls and that's it. I close the container again and I try to put it back in the freezer. It slips, and I drop it. Ice cream splatters all over the floor.

"Oohhh..." I moan.

Stella and Mom get up and come toward me. They see the mess in front of the fridge, and they see me. I'm starting to cry.

"I'm sorry," I wail, "I didn't mean to."

"I know, sweetie, it's okay." Mom bends down, grabbing a washcloth to help me clean up. There's a knock at the door a few seconds later. Stella opens it, and there he is. Dad is standing at the door.

_Did I just call him Dad?_


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

No no no no no! I just called Danny _Dad_! Danny is _not_ my dad!

"Is Lindsay here, Stell?" I hear him ask.

"Why?" Stella answers.

"I just wanna talk to her," he says. Pffhhttt, yeah right!

Mom gets up after helping me clean up the mess and goes to the door. She and Danny go out into the hallway to talk. I stay with Stella, and she takes the washcloth I was using from me. She says it'll wash easily, it just needs to wait till laundry day.

"So Maddie," Stella wants to talk to me, but I like her, she treats me like a grown up. "What do you know about your mom and Danny?"

"Danny's my dad," I say.

"What?" Stella looks funny. She's not quite sure what to say.

_Why am I calling Danny Dad? Is it possible..._

"Danny's my dad," I sat again. Now I'm starting to like him. He treats me nicely, and he really likes Mom.

But what about Stephen? Wouldn't it hurt his feelings if Mom decided she didn't want to be with him anymore and move back to New York? He paid for our tickets here, because Mom and me didn't have any money, and Grandma and Grandpa Monroe wouldn't pay for it.

Mom comes back into the apartment and thanks Stella for being so nice to us. She tells me to get my coat on so I do. When we leave, Danny is there waiting.

"Hi Maddie," he says, offering me his hand.

"Hi Daddy," I answer.

* * *

_Did Madison just call me Daddy?_ _I'm speechless. She's just like her mother, big brown eyes and honey coloured hair, she's absolutely beautiful. I can't believe I helped create something so precious._

_I look over at Lindsay, and I can tell she's caught off guard too. I don't think she expected Maddie to call me Dad just yet. It's been seven years since I saw her, and nothing about her has really changed. She's still got that beautiful sense of need and love for other people. I just don't understand why she stopped working as a CSI. Now she's just erking out a living as a waitress in a restaurant in Montana. She's so much more qualified than that, I don't get it._

_I bend down to Maddie and look her in the eye. "Pardon?"_

_"Hi Daddy," she says it to me again. "is it okay if I call you Daddy?"_

_"It's perfectly a'right." I answer her. My heart is **melting** for this little girl. As we walk to my car, 'cause I'm gonna drive 'em back to their hotel, I start to wonder how different my life is going to be._

_I'm a dad now. I can't just go off to Sullivan's after work for a coupla pints with the guys, I can't just pick up some random chick at the bar who'd been dancin' on tables anymore. I gotta set a good example for my daughter._

_Lindsay helps strap Maddie into the back set of my car and we drive off. Lindsay gives me directions to the hotel, but I already know where it is. I drop them off, kiss Lindsay on the cheek and Maddie on the forehead, and off I drive._

_When I get back to my apartment, I fold my laundry and start to think about all the little things that I've missed. Her birth, her homecoming, her first steps... first words... first **everythings.** _

_I gotta make it up to them somehow.

* * *

_

"So Mom," I ask as I get changed into my pajamas. "What did Dad ask you?"

"He just wanted to talk, Maddie," she answers. Her mouth is full of toothpaste so it sounds like " 'E jus' wanna 'alk, Addie" She spits it out into the sink and rinses her mouth out. "I'm glad to see you like him."

"I dunno." I answer. And it's true, I really don't know. I called him Dad 'cause it seemed right to do it. "I don't want him to take you away from me."

"Oh baby," she hugs me, "Danny isn't going to take me away from you, and I want you to be close to him."

"How?" I ask. This is neat... Mom wants me to be closer to Dad, but how are we gonna do it?

"Well, I just think it would be best for you if we moved to New York."

_WHAT? _


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Mom thinks we should move to New York? What about Stephen? What about her job? What about Grandma and Grandpa Monroe? What about my _friends_? We can't just pack up and leave everything, that's not fair!

"Why?" I ask.

"Well," Mom pulls me on to the bed beside her, "You want to be close to your dad, and that's fine. I want you to be able to see him as much as possible. If we live in Montana and your dad lives in New York, isn't that a little far?"

"Yeah…" I say, and I voice how I feel. I don't wanna leave Grandma and Grandpa Monroe; I don't wanna leave my friends! I wanna stay in Montana to go to school.

"Sweetie, there are plenty of schools in New York too," she says. "You'll make new friends, and you can still write to them whenever you want." She hugs me tighter. "And Grandma and Grandpa Monroe will come visit for Christmas and Easter, too." I don't know…

"Okay…" I say, drawing it out. "But Mom, what about your job?"

"I can get another one here," she tells me, "and I promise it won't be in a restaurant."

I giggle. I guess Mom is tired of working around food and stuff like that. I think she likes being challenged, not making food and being yelled at by a cook who can't tell a piece of eggplant from a leek. I spend _a lot_ less time at the restaurant than the cook and even _I _know the difference between an eggplant and a leek!

"What about Stephen?"

"He's my friend, Maddie, he'll understand."

* * *

Danny flipped open his cell phone and dialed his mother. He waited for someone in the house to pick up, and when someone did, it was his mother, Edith.

"Hey Ma," he waited for her reply. "No, everything's fine. Ya, of course I'm coming for dinner, but can you set two extra places? I'm bringin' two very special people along." He listened to the response on the other end of the line. "Yeah, okay, Ma. Buh bye now." He hung up and exhaled sharply. This was going to be interesting….

* * *

Mom and me are in the car with Dad. He says we're going to meet his mom and dad, and I guess that means they're my Grandma and Grandpa too, but they're Grandma and Grandpa Messer. Dad says his mom likes to meet new people, but we just won't tell her that I'm related to them until the very end of dinner.

"Danny, really, is this a good idea?" I hear Mom say as we pull into what I think is his parent's house. It's white, with a white fence around it. I see that there's a blueberry bush in front of it, and I think there's a flower garden there too. It's pretty; we don't have one of those in front of our apartment in Montana.

"Of course it's a good idea, Linds." Dad answers her. "They'd love ta meet you."

"Danny, I don't want them to think I'm some sort of hussy that knocked up their son and made him responsible for a life he didn't even know he had for seven years."

"What's a hussy?" I ask from the back seat.

Mom laughs, unbuckling me from the back seat and helping me out of the car. "Never mind," she scolds.

We walk up the steps, and I'm holding Mom's hand very tightly. Dad knocks on the door, and a few seconds later a man answers it. I think it's his dad.

"Edith, Danny's here!" he turns around and yells to her.

I see an older woman come from the kitchen in an apron, kind of like the one Mom wears to work. "Danny!" she pulls him inside and kisses him on both cheeks.

"Hi Ma," I hear him say. She lets go of him and turns her eyes to my Mom. She stares at her for a few seconds before Mom sticks out her hand.

"Hi I'm Lindsay."

"Lindsay, _hello_!" she pulls Mom toward her and gives her a kiss on both cheeks. When she lets go of Mom she bends down and looks at me. "And who's this?"

"I'm Madison." I say, "Madison Diana Monroe."

"Well aren't you just the sweetest little thing!" she pinches my cheek. "Come in, come in, let me get you something to drink!" she hurries back to the kitchen. When she's gone I rub my cheek and mouth "Ouch" at Mom.

"I know, baby." Mom whispers back.

Dad comes to our rescue and has us sit on the couch with him. He turns off the baseball game that his dad was watching so we can talk. The couch is so big and fluffy that my feet don't even touch the ground.

"So Lindsay," I hear a voice. It's Dad's dad. "Tell me a little about yourself."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"Well…" Mom starts. "I'm from Montana, originally. I came to New York for work about 8 years ago."

"And where have you been since then?"

"I went back to Montana after I discovered I was pregnant with Madison."

I see Dad's dad nod his head. "What about her father?"

"Whoa whoa, hey!" Dad puts up his hand. I keep my words to myself, but I want to jump out of my seat, kick him in the shins and say 'Look at me! Can't you see I look just like Dad?', but I don't. I sit, chewing on my tongue. It hurts.

"Dad, that's not a subject we wanna bring up right now." Danny says.

"Well, I just wanna make sure there's nothing odd 'bout Lindsay and Madison, that's all."

That's mean! I don't like that he said that _at all!_ Dad sees me starting to get up, and he knows I'll do something if he doesn't stop me. He puts his hands on my shoulders to stop me from getting up.

"Dad," he says, "there's nothing odd about Lindsay or Maddie. Take a look."

He leans forward, and is about to say something when Dad's mom calls out from the kitchen that supper's ready. We go into the kitchen, and we sit down to dinner. Mom and me eat silently, until Danny's mom gets up to take the dishes away.

"Let me help," I say, getting up to clear away my plate.

"Why thank you," she says as I bring the dishes into the kitchen. "You can just leave it on the counter there, dear." So I do. I go back out to the table and I hear Dad, Mom, and Dad's dad talking.

_Oh, uh, Lindsay, I'm sorry if I offended you earlier._ I hear him say, _but if you don't mind me askin', who is Maddie's father?_

_Should we tell him, _I hear her ask Dad. I guess Dad said okay because the next thing I hear is: _Danny is Maddie's father. _


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

I thought I'd be hearing screaming and shouting by now… but there's not. Mom, Dad, and Dad's parents are all sitting in the living room with coffee. Mom sent me to another room to draw some pictures while they talked. I think they're talking about me, but I'm not sure.

* * *

Lindsay and Danny sat on the couch of Edith and Edward Messer's home in awkward silence. The revelation of Danny actually being the father of Lindsay's daughter was downright insane! Surely he would have told them if he had a little girl! 

"Really?" Edward gripped his chair handles tightly, his knuckles turning white. "That little girl, in _that room_," he pointed to the parlour, where Madison lay on her stomach, concentrating heavily on the drawing she was creating, "_is yours?_"

Danny nodded. His father was a rather intimidating man. He was 6 feet tall, 190 pounds at least, and it was all muscle. He could squash Danny like a bug given the chance.

"But don't blame him, he didn't know." Lindsay stepped in. "I moved back to Montana before I told him anything."

Edward and Edith nodded. There had to be _some _explanation as to why she'd never contacted their youngest son. Maybe… Maddie wasn't really Danny's daughter. Maybe… Lindsay was scared Danny would reject the baby.

"At first, I didn't want Danny to find out about the baby. I thought he had a pretty good life here, in New York. What would he need another complication like a baby for?"

"But…" Danny interjected, "it's over now. It's in the past. I'm here now, for you and Maddie, no matter what."

* * *

I'm sitting at the kitchen table with a pen and paper. I don't know what I'm drawing, but its fun. I'm listening to Mom and Dad talking, and it sounds like Dad's parents are taking it pretty well. I like being able to sit and listen and not hear Mom and Dad fight all the time. 

I think Dad's parents are a little mad, but oh well, not my problem. I'm just sitting here. Soon enough, Mom comes in, and says Dad is going to drive us back to the hotel.

"Okay," I say. I go to the front door and get my coat and shoes on. When we're going out the door I hear Dad's mom say: She's such a little angel."

I like to think so.

* * *

I'm getting into my pajamas and Mom is tucking me into bed when Dad says he has to go. I don't know why, but he said someone named Mac needed to see him. 

"Mom, who's Mac?" I say, rubbing my eyes.

"Mac is your dad's boss, honey," she answers me; "I used to work for him too. Actually, when we move back to New York maybe I can get my old job back."

"What was your old job?" I ask as I snuggle deeper under the covers.

"I got to run around the city all day catching bad guys." She kisses me on the cheek, turns out my light, and shuts the door.

* * *

"Mac, you wanted to see me?" Danny strode into Mac's office. 

No answer.

"Mac?" Strange… the lights shouldn't be off. "Ya here?"

Suddenly something hit him in the head and the world went black.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Danny awoke on a cold, hard floor, bruised and with a splitting headache to boot. He sat up, and hit his head immediately on a steel bar.

"Ah fuck!" he yelled.

"Heh heh, look at this!" he heard behind him. "Daniel Messer, I was wonderin' where you'd got to."

"Who the hell are you?" Danny snarled, "What the hell do you want?"

"You'll be sorry you ever took her from me, you bastard!"

* * *

"Mom, where's Dad?" I ask Mom as we get dressed for the trip to the airport.

"I don't know, Maddie, he should have been back by now," Mom says as she pulls on a different shirt. Suddenly I see her jerk a little. "You know what, I'm gonna call Stella. She's gonna sit with you, I have to find Mac."

She calls Stella, and a few minutes later Stella is driving Mom and me to the lab. I have to stay in the break room while Mom goes to find Mac. I think something's wrong with Dad, but I don't know what.

"Hey Maddie," Stella takes my hand as Mom closes Mac's office door. It doesn't do much good, it's glass, I can see everything. "Guess you didn't get breakfast this morning, huh?"

I shake my head.

"Okay," Stella pulls me into her office and gets a granola bar out of her desk drawer for me.

"It's not much, but it will get you through till lunchtime." Stella says.

Mom rushes out of Mac's office, with Mac following and another guy I recognize from a picture Mom has in her wallet. I think his name is Don Flack, he sure looks like him.

"Mom, what's going on?" I ask as she rushes by.

"Your dad's in trouble, princess." Don says to me.

* * *

"You'll be sorry…"

"Who the hell are you?" Danny picked himself up off the floor and felt for his holster. Still firmly attached to his hip.

"I'm the person you stole Maddie from!" there were tears running down this man's face.

"I didn't steal Maddie from you…" Danny tried to bring this lunatic back to reality. "I don't even know who you are."

* * *

Lindsay busted down the door of Danny's apartment. Surely there would be some evidence there to point them to where he'd been taken.

Once the door was down she saw what was happening.

"Stephen, what the fuck are you doing?"


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Yay! Over 100 reviews! I love it, I love it, I love it! Thank you _so_ much to all who've been reading and reviewing, I love to see what you think! Currently, I have no beta (the one I did have, well her computer's acting up so yeah...), so any mistakes in this story are mine. There's some _slight_ smut in this chapter (but I'm sure you'll see where it goes with the story), and here's your next taste (it tastes like chocolate _and_ vanilla), and as always, please continue to REVIEW, oh, and I do not own Mary Poppins, as is referenced in this chapter.

* * *

**

Chapter 19 

Stephen didn't even realize who was talking to him until he looked straight at her. Lindsay's eyes were welling with unshed tears, and it hurt him immensely. But look what she had done! She'd taken his money, flown to New York to let Madison meet her father, and never returned. She'd promised dshe'd be back in a few days! She'd lied!

"Stephen, let him go," she begged him, "please..."

"No!" he shouted, his hand wobbling as he tried to keep his shot at Danny steady. "Give meone good reason why I shouldn't shoot this bastard dead and getMadison!"

She could see both Danny and Mac's veins in their temples throbbing.

"You're _never_ getting Madison!" Lindsay shouted, "you're not her father! No matter how close you are with her!"

"I want _Madison_!" he shouted back at her. Truth be told he sounded like a three year old begging for an ice cream cone before supper.

"No!" Lindsay lunged at him, attempting to grab the gun from his hands.

"Lindsay, what are you doing!" Mac rushed into the quarrel as Danny rushed to secure the scene. It may be his apartment, but if this went any further it would be considered a crime scene.

"Lindsay, get off!" Mac managed to pull her off of a deranged Stephen and continued to wrestle with him. The force of Mac tearing her from her now former friend sent her flying out the door into Danny's arms.

"I wanna get out of here," she whispered.

Suddenly she heard a shot ring out and Stephen was lying unconscious on the floor. The bullet from the gun had lodged in the leg of the table. Mac handcuffed the bastard and gave him his rights. There were plenty of witnesses at the scene to testify that he'd indeed given the arrested man his rights, even if he was unconscious.

* * *

"Stella, where's Mom and Dad?" I ask her, still munching on the granola bar she'd given me a little more than 30 minutes before.

"I don't know, sweetie," she says as she sits in the lunchroom with me. We're not having lunch, but we're sitting there because there are too many things in the lab that I could accidently knock over and break.

"But what if they're hurt?"

"I'm sure they're fine, dear," she ruffles my hair, "come on, I've got a few videos in the break room."

So we go into the break room and I see a few movies. I pick one out... my favourite, Mary Poppins, and we sit together, watching it. Suddenly Stella's phone starts to ring.

"Bonasera," she answers it. _Just a Spoonful of Sugar _is starting, and she turns it off so she can hear what the person's saying.

"Okay, yeah," she grabs my hand and the next thing I know we're in the hospital. I see Mom and Dad in a hospital room, and they don't look good. Mom is bruised and has a black eye, and Dad is in much worse shape. I can see that he has a lot of bruises, and I think his nose is broken. Okay, maybe not _broken_, but he's really hurt.

"Mommy!" I break my grip from Stella and run to her. I launch myself into her arms, and I hug her tight.

"Oh my baby girl," she whispered in my ear. "Baby, I'm so glad you're okay."

"Can we go home?"

"Soon, baby girl," she says, "very soon."

* * *

We get home, really Dad's apartment, and we're getting ready for bed. The doctor said that Dad should take it easy for a few days, but it wasn't anything he should be worried about. He'd be okay in a couple of days.

I sleep on the couch and Mom and Dad go into Dad's bedroom to discuss what happened. I don't know what they're _really_ talking about, but I hope it's something good.

* * *

Danny and I sat the the bed Danny had for himself. We've been through so much in the last few days it doesn't seem normal.

"Danny, I..." I'm looking for something to take the pain away. He didn't askfor this! He didn't ask for me to come back to him, he didn't ask for Madison, he didn't...

"Lindsay, it's okay." He shused me, "I'd walk to the ends of the earth for that little girl, don't you doubt that I wouldn't."

"But..." I protest. "Look what Stephen did to you." I still can't believe I'd _trusted_ Stephen for all these years.

"Lindsay, don't you worry 'bout that, a'ight?" Now I'm remembering why I fell in love with him in the first place. His eyes, his accent, his body.

His lips.

He presses his lips to mine, his hands slowly traveling down the front of my shirt. Before I know it the shirt I'd been wearing is in the corner of the room, Danny's pants soon join them, and...

We ended up spending the night together, and it was just as magical as the night I'd conceived Madison. Danny knew all the tricks, all the ways that could get me excited. He was just as good as he'd been seven years before, and I couldn't help but shout out his name as my muscles contracted around him.

God, I hope I didn't wake Maddie up!

"I love you Lindsay," he whispered as we both reached our peak.

"I love you too Danny," I managed to say before feeling him collaspe on top of me and roll over.

I fell asleep in his arms that night.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Lindsay awoke the next morning to find herself wrapped around the torso of one Detective Danny Messer. He looked so beautiful when he slept. As she slowly regained conscoiusness she watched his chest gently heaved up and down, up and down.

"What happened?" she heard a soft whisper. Danny was waking up. "Where are my pants?"

Lindsay chuckled and tossed him the pair of pants they'd thrown into the corner the night before. Soon after, they emerged from the bedroom to see Madison still laying on the couch, watching _SpongeBob SquarePants_. God, Lindsay _hated _that stupid yellow sponge.

_"OHHHHHH... he lives in a pineapple under the sea! SpongeBob SquarePants!"_

"Ugh!" Lindsay went for the coffee pot. Luckily, Danny had it set to start before the alarm even went off each morning.

"What? What's so bad 'bout SpongeBob?" It was Danny's turn to laugh.

"Well you don't have to deal with it every morning," Lindsay stirred a little milk into her coffee and took a sip.

"Hey Maddie, you want some breakfast?" Danny asked the little girl still sitting on the couch in her pajamas.

"Yes please!" she shut the TV off and came into the kitchen. It took her all of 30 seconds to get to the table and sit quietly.

"Okay, let's see what we got in the fridge!" Danny opened the fridge and found a jug of orange juice. He poured some for Maddie and set it in front of her. He replaced the jug and went for the cupboard. Ah, he had _just the thing._

"Lucky Charms, Danny?" Lindsay scoffed as he poured some in a bowl.

"Breakfast of Champions," he smiled as he prepared to set it down on the table.

"And not for Maddie," Lindsay swiftly snatched the bowl away and set it back on the counter.

"Aww, Mom!" Maddie whined.

"Never mind, Maddie." Lindsay swiftly rummaged through the cupboard and pulled out a box of Museli from the back of the cupboard. She dumped the Lucky Charms into the trash and replaced the offending cereal with the much healthier version. Pouring milk on it, she set it in front of her daughter.

* * *

Museli? _I hate Museli!_ Mom makes me eat it every morning, she says it's good for me. I look at Dad to see if he's gonna make me eat it too.

"Aw, c'mon Lindsay. You only live once." Dad takes the bowl from me and sets it in the sink. "Let's go out for breakfast."

So off we go. Once we sit down in the diner and get our food (Mom gets a bran muffin and yogourt, Dad gets an egg sandwich with spicy salsa, and I ask for oatmeal with raisins), Dad's cell phone goes off.

"Messer," he listens to who's on the other end. "Yeah. Okay, fine." he shuts it and gets up. "I'm sorry ladies, but we gotta go." He puts some money back on the table and off we go.

"So what've we got?" Danny asked as Hawkes pulled back the sheet to reveal their victim.

"No fucking way!" he stepped back, covering his eyes.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

"Mom?" I ask, swinging my legs from a chair in the lab's hallway, "what happened? What's wrong with Dad?"

"Maddie, nothing's wrong," she says, stroking my hair, "it's just a case he's got to work on."

"So why are we sitting here?" I'm bored, and we haven't seen much of New York, I wanna _do_ something. We could go shopping, we could see a play, we could do all sorts of things. But we're here, in the lab. I think Mom wants to move back to New York so she can get her job in the lab back. She likes it so much I think she should.

"Because he should be done soon."

* * *

_What the hell do I know?_ I thought to myself. All I'm trying to do is keep my daughter occupied. I guess I'm not doing a very good job of it, she's bored out of her head! I know it's going to be a while while Danny works this case (it always is), but I don't have a lot of money, and New York is just so damn expensive!

"Hey, I've got an idea," I can feel something taking form in my head, "how about you and me go try an experiment in the break room?"

Heh, heh, I don't tell her that it's a simple cookie recipe. All it is really is basic chemistry. I want to teach her how all the different elements of the recipe combine to make such a thing.

"Cool!" my little girl jumps off her chair and takes my hand. We go into the break room and I see what's in the cupboard. Peanut butter... sugar... flour... there's an egg in the fridge... this is perfect! Peanut butter cookies. Those were always my favourite when my mom and I were in the kitchen together (I'd always get caught with my hand in the cookie jar). I rummage around and I find a big mixing bowl and a wooden spoon.

"Ready?" We each have a pair of goggles on, I think it looks kinda funny. Maddie is adorable, she actually looks like a little scientist. She reminds me of Danny, with her facial expressions, her glasses, and lanky body. Danny's fairly tall, she got her height from him. She nods at me and off we go.

"Okay, we need half a cup of peanut butter, and half a cup of flour," I tell her as she dumps it into the bowl. "What this is going to do is it's going to bind the cookie together and give it its flavour. The flour will also make it a little bit crispier. Next goes the egg." So she doesn't get any eggshell in the dough, I crack it and let her stir the mix. "The egg also helps it bind with the sugar, which goes in next. a whole cup." Maddie starts to pour it, but half of it ends up on the floor.

"I'm sorry," I can see tears in her eyes. "I didn't mean to."

"Oh baby girl, it's okay," I say, taking a little bit of flour in my fingertips and turning to face her. "Because I'm gonna do this!" I flick the flour in her direction. There's enough there that it splatters all over her lab coat and gets in her hair. There's also a fair amount that goes on to the floor.

"Mom!" she squeels. Oh now she's got something up her sleeve. She takes a spoonful of peanut butter and walks toward me. She smears it all over my cheek.

"Oh you little rascal!" I pop the cookies into the oven and chase after her. I'm sure we look absolutely _ridiculous_, running down the hallway covered in flour and peanut butter, but I don't care. I'm enjoying this time with my daughter. I don't remember the last time she and I ran around like this, I think she was about three, and I was trying to get her into the bath. Needless to say she didn't like that idea too much.

"Ahem!" Maddie just happens to run straight into the legs of one Detective Mac Taylor. I'm surprised she doesn't knock him over.

"Lindsay, what are you doing?" Mac asks.

"I'm doing an experiment with my daughter, Mac," I explain, "I don't think that's such a big deal."

"And it involves flour and peanut butter..." he doesn't seem to optimistic. He wrinkles his nose and sniffs the air. "Is something burning?"

* * *

"My experiment!" I yell as I wiggle free from Mom's grip and run back toward the break room.

"Maddie, don't touch it!" I hear Mom yelling, but it's too late. I've already opened up the oven and taken the burning hot pan out. It's so hot I drop it on the floor. My experiment goes _everywhere_, and I'm jumping up and down. "Ow ow ow ow ow ow!" I scream.

"Oh Maddie," Mom grabs my wrist and immediately gets me to the sink. She runs cold water all over my hand. Dad must have heard me screaming because he's run into the room with a file in his hand.

"What happened?" he asks, rushing over to me and Mom.

"_I burned my fingers!"_ I wimper through lots of tears. "I wanted to try an experiment and Mom was helping me and we had a fun fight and she chased me down the hall and I ran into Mac and he said something was burning and I ran back to save my experiment and the pan was too hot and _I burned my fingers_!" I let out another big cry. It really hurts badly. "OW!"

"Experiment?" Dad is looking at Mom with a weird look on his face.

Mom points to the pan lying on the floor. My experiment (or peanut butter cookies, I guess), are all over the floor.

Dad goes over and picks one up. I see him take a bite.

"Not bad." he says.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Now I'm laughing. It's pretty hard to cry when Dad makes me laugh. My fingers don't hurt so much anymore. Dad is taping them up with Band-aids and Mom is cleaning up the mess we made.

"Feel better?" Dad asks.

I nod, and he kisses me on the forehead. I go over to help Mom, but she says no. I have to go sit with Dad while she finishes cleaning it up. I turn around, but then I don't see Dad. Where did he go?

I see Maddie go off into the hallway while I finish cleaning up the mess we made together. There's flour and peanut butter and eggshell everywhere. No harm in exploring, as long as she doesn't break anything.

"Lindsay," I hear Mac approaching as I'm cleaning. Oh fuck! Is he gonna bitch at me? I mean, I know I messed up their entire work week but I had to do what I had to do for Maddie. She wanted to meet her father; I wasn't going to deny her that right. Okay, so I could have met him at his apartment but too late now.

"Yeah Mac?" I ask, looking up from my perch on the floor. Damn, I knew peanut butter could be sticky, but not _this_ sticky.

"Can I ask why you came back to New York?" he grabbed a towel and bent down beside me. Not that I don't appreciate the help, I just don't appreciate the question.

I'll humor him.

"To let Madison meet her father," I answer.

Mac looked at me with questioning eyes.

"I brought her so she could meet Danny." I clarified.

* * *

So _that_ explains why she showed up after almost 8 years. Never did tell me why she left, just that there was some crisis and that she needed to go back to Montana to take care of it. Guess that crisis was a little girl named Madison Monroe. Thank God she didn't name her Marilyn. I can't even express how good it feels to have her back in New York. The lab wasn't the same without her.

* * *

I'm wandering around the hall, exploring. There are things here I've never seen, 'cept on TV, like test tubes and microscopes and big tables with lights underneath them. I like going through the hallway, but then I turn around a corner and I don't know where I am. I think I'm in the lab's basement.

Ewww! There's a dead body on a cold slab. The doctor guy is gonna cut into him soon and that's just… ewww! I run out as quick as I can before anyone sees me. I keep running, but I passed that picture in the hallway already.

I'm lost.

"Dad!" I yell, hoping he'll somehow hear me. "Dad!"

No answer.

"DADDY!" I scream. I'm scared, I don't see Mom, and there's no one else around. I'm crying, because I'm scared. "Daddy, I can't find you! I'm lost!"

Dad comes running. He's in his lab coat, the white one. I'm standing still, like Mom always tells me. She says, "Maddie, if you get lost, stay in one place and yell for help. When someone hears you, they'll come and help."

"Oh Maddie," He picks me up off my feet and carries me. I wrap my legs around his torso and cling to him tight. "Maddie, what happened?"

"I was exploring, and I got lost," I say through tears.

"Okay, alright. Hey, how's about you help me with something?"

What do I get to help Dad with?


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Hi folks, sorry it took me so long to update but this chapter was really hard to write. This is all I may have time for in the next couple of weeks because I'm starting a new job and I want to make some money! I'll update when I can, I just don't know when that will be. PLEASE review.**

Chapter 23

"Daddy?" I ask as we're walking back up the stairs to where the lab and the other lab people are. "What are you doing?"

"Almost to my office space," he mumbles. When we get there he sits me down in a chair and reaches into his desk. I see him pull out a little black box. I've seen those before, but I don't actually know what's in it. It's made of velvet.

"Can I see, Daddy?" I ask, reaching for it.

"Yep, just be careful," he places the box in my hand. I open it gently. That's what Mom _always _tells me, 'gentle gentle'. So I am... I always make sure that I hold things with two hands. _Now_ I see what's in there.

Daddy's bought Mom a ring.

CSI NY

I'm walking down the hallway, looking for Maddie. I'm not worried, though. I know that if she were to get into trouble, she's in good hands. I trust Mac and Stella, and yes, I'll admit, Danny too. I would trust everyone from the crime lab with my life. I've always had a special bond with these people, and now that I've come back with Maddie, the bond is even stronger.

I still don't have a place to stay, so I guess Maddie and I would be crashing at Danny's place. I can't go back to Montana now, Maddie is to attached to her dad. That's all well and good, but I do wish we had more time so I could move all our things out of the apartment and put it up for lease. I guess I could ask my sister to do that... Maddie and I are by no means extravegant, and it shouldn't take her very long.

Oh, I see Danny and Maddie walking down the hall hand in hand. I don't know what they have planned, I... is that a smirk I see on my daughter's face?

CSI NY

Hee hee, this is so cool! Daddy's gonna surprise Mom. I didn't like that we were going to move to New York before, but now it's not so bad. If Mom and me can stay with Daddy and be a family I wouldn't mind that one bit. I could go to school here and make new friends and just be Maddie. Sure, I would miss Grandma and Grandpa Monroe, but they'd still visit at Christmas and Easter. Grandma and Grandpa Messer don't seem like very nice people though. Maybe it's just because I'm not used to them yet and I don't know them very well.

Daddy and me have this plan now. He's going to hide in his office and I'm going to run out to find Mom. I have to tell her to close her eyes and I'm going to lead her to Daddy's office. When I tell her to open her eyes I'm gonna move over and Daddy is gonna ask her to marry him. I hope she says yes! I love Daddy, and I know Mom does too. Sometimes she just doesn't want to admit it.

I know Daddy is nervous, he's jumping up and down and up and down. Not big ones, little ones.

"Okay Maddie, there she is." Daddy whispers.

I walk out and grab her hand, like I'm supposed to. She asks me what I'm doing.

"Close your eyes, Mommy," I say.

"Okay..." she says, playing along with this little game I'm leading. I take her to Daddy's office and I don't let go. I sit her down in a chair, and I wait until Daddy says it's okay for me to let go of her hand. When he says okay, I let go.

"Okay Mommy, open your eyes." When she does I jump out of the way and Daddy still hasn't taken the ring out.

"Lindsay..." I hear him say. "I am so happy that you have come back into my life and brought this... this little miracle with you." I guess he means me. There are tears in his eyes, and Mommy's hand is covering her mouth.

"I... I can't imagine my life without you and Maddie, Lindsay. Will you marry me?" he says, taking out the ring.

"YES!" Mommy nearly shouts. Daddy slides the ring on to her finger and pulls her up. He kisses her.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

"I, Lindsay Monroe, take thee, Daniel Messer..."

"I, Daniel Messer, take thee, Lindsay Monroe..."

"To be my lawfully wedded husband..."

"To be my lawfully wedded wife..."

"To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness." We finished together.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride." the priest announced.

I took her in my arms and I kissed her. It was the most wonderful kiss I could have ever wished for. I heard Maddie cheering as we turned to face our wedding party. It consisted of my mom and dad, Lindsay's mom and dad had flown out to New York, Mac, Stella, Hawkes had decided he wanted out of the morgue so he was there, and so was Flack.

"May I present Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Messer."

Cheers and appalause filled the church. We'd done it. We were married.

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Yay! My Mommy and Daddy are going to be together forever! I know I didn't like him before, but now I do. I know Daddy wants to take care of us, and I don't think Mommy has any troubles with that. They told me I could be the flower girl, and I had a really pretty dress. I got to walk down the aisle ahead of Mommy with Michael, my cousin. He was the ring bearer. I only met Michael a couple of times, he's my Auntie Michelle's kid. My Uncle Peter was in the pews watching, with Daddy's brother, I think his name is Louie. Uncle Peter said he didn't know Daddy that well so he shouldn't be in the wedding party, and Daddy said Louie isn't a very nice guy but Daddy said he would behave himself for our special day.

We walk out of the church and we all get into a horse drawn carriage. Daddy said it would be for just the three of us. We were going to ride through Central Park and then go to something Mommy called the reception. She said there would be lots of yummy food for our guests, and we would have all the attention, because it was our special day, the day we were now a family.

When we got there, everyone clapped when Mommy and Daddy came into the room. We got to sit at a special table and no one else was allowed to come up there. It wasn't until I got to dance with my Daddy that something went wrong.

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I saw them too. Sonny Sassone and Salvador Zabo. No! Not today, _any _day but today! What the hell am I sayin', _no_ day is better. They even dressed for the occasion, how nice of them! Ha! What a load of shit to be dumped on my family on such an important day. I don't know what the hell they're doin' here, probably lookin' for Louie.

"Hey! Messer!" Zabo yells at me. Or Louie? I don't know which one...

We both turn at the same time. I set Maddie down and tell her to go over to her mom. She does, and I walk up to him. I'm not intimidated.

"What?"

Next thing I know I'm eatin' a knuckle sandwich, courtesy of Sonny Sassone.

I stumble backward in surprise. Flack catches me and stands me back up. I cautiously put a hand to my lip. I can feel it, it's almost split open. "You did not just do that, you _bastard_!" I hate having to use that language in front of my daughter, but there's a time and place for everything. I flew at him. I was just about to knock him out cold when Flack, Louie, and Mac pulled me off him.

"Easy, Danny, easy," Flack says.

"Get the fuck outta here!" I hear Louie yell. "I told you! I told you I was busy."

_Busy?_ Ha!

I could see Mac's eyes fill with rage. He's the kind of guy who nevers goes anywhere without his gun and handcuffs, in case something like this ever happened. Zabo and Sonny fled before Mac could do anything about it.

I look over at Lindsay and she looks horrified. She's clutching Maddie, her white wedding dress makes her look like an angel. My angel. The angel who saved me from a life of destroying what precious little I had left of myself.

And the way she handled herself in the face of the Tanglewood Boys only reinforces how much I care for her, how much I love her, and it makes me question why I didn't act on it sooner.

Maddie breaks free from her mother and runs toward me.

"Daddy!" she yells. "Daddy!" There are tears streaming down her face, smudging her make-up.

I lift her up and hug her tightly. "It's okay, baby girl, it's okay." I kiss her hair. She looks like a little doll, her hair all done up in curls, her light purple dress flaring out a little bit. "It's okay."


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Danny and I left Maddie with my parents at his place and went off on our honeymoon. We were heading off to Montana. Yeah, I know, some place for a honeymoon but for all intents and purposes I wanted him to see where I'd raised Maddie for seven years. I knew Stephen wouldn't be there, he was lying on Hawkes' cold metal slab in the morgue. Or he was in the refrigeration unit until someone claimed him, one of the two. Yes, Danny had told me that was the case he was working on. Stephen had shot himself in the temple after I'd refused to give him Maddie. Thank God, I was worried he would try to come after me to get to her. Oh well, now I had Danny, and that was all that mattered. We were together, holding hands as we drove all the way to Montana.

As we past the restaurant where I'd been working, I directed him to my apartment. I'd asked my sister Gina to look after the place until I returned. When Danny and I opened the door, I saw that she'd been true to her word. I couldn't wait to spend the rest of my life with this wonderful man who was a great father to my little girl.

"Here we are, Mr. Messer,"I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. I felt him kissing back, and I jumped a little to wrap my legs around his waist. He carried me to the bedroom (I'm surprised he knew where it was), and the next thing I knew we're dancing the horizontal tango. My shirt and skirt flew across the room, and soon his pants and shirt joined them. We explored each other all night, until he became lax and we were both out of breath. I fell asleep with his arms wrapped around me and I immediately felt safe.

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Mom and Dad are on their honeymoon, so I have to stay in New York with Grandma and Grandpa Monroe. They said Mom and Dad had to have some time together after getting married, that's what a honeymoon was for.

"Grandma, when will Mom and Dad be back?" I asked as I helped her clean the kitchen floor. I wanted to go with them, back to Montana, but they said this was their time.

"In a week or so, honey," Grandma Monroe tells me as she stirs the pot of soup on the stove. "Your Mom is a great young woman, you know. She wouldn't leave and not come back, she loves you too much."

"But I miss her," I whine. I've never really been away from Mom for more than a few days, and I'm scared too. I know Grandma Monroe says that she'll be back in a week, but I want her back _now_. She's my _mom_, and I love Daddy, but sometimes I still think that he's going to take Mom from me and she'll pay less attention to me. I know that's not true, but it still seems that way.

"I know, baby," Grandma Monroe turns the heat off on the stove and picks up the phone, "how about we call them and make sure they know you're okay?"

I nod.

"Okay," she dials the number.

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My cell phone is ringing. On my honeymoon, my fuckin' _cell phone_ is ringin'. If its anyone other than Maddie or Lindsay's parents I'm gonna fuckin' strangle 'em when we get back. I roll over and answer it.

"Hmmm?" I mumble.

"Daddy?" I hear my daughter's sweet voice, she sounds like she's been crying.

"Maddie?" I shoot out of bed. "Baby girl, what'sa matter?"

"Nothing," she says. Geez, she got me all worked up for no reason. "I just wanna tell you I miss you."

"I miss you too, baby girl," I answer. I rub the sleep outta my eyes as I'm pulling on my pants.

"When are you and Mommy coming home?"

"Soon," I answer her. "Now I've got to go. You be good for Grandma and Grandpa Monroe, alright? I'll see you in a few days."

"Okay, Daddy, love you."

"Love you too, baby girl," I hang up and am about to finish getting dressed when I hear Lindsay.

"You take those off right now," she smiles. I guess she means my pants.

I gladly give in to her request. I hop back on the bed with her and gently press my mouth to hers. I hear her moan into my mouth, and it's only making me hornier. I tear the blanket off her and travel down to her breast. I suckle each one lovingly, and she's getting ready, I can feel it. Her breathing is quickening, I bring myself up near the pillow and rub my fingertip against her thigh. I feel the muscles in her leg tighten at my touch.

When she's ready, I slide myself inside her, and we go. We go until I can feel myself becoming lax and we both cry out our pleasure. Good God, she's spectacular. I roll over, kiss her again, and think. I could dance the horizontal tango with this woman all day, and that's exactly what I intend to do.

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"See, Maddie, I told you everything was alright," Grandma says as she puts me to bed. She kisses me on the forehead and puts me under the covers. "Good night."

"Good night, Grandma." I say as my eyes close.

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A few hours later, I go up to her room to check on her. Edward kept saying there was nothing to worry about, but I just wanted to make sure. When I looked in on her, the bed was empty.

"Oh dear God!" I ran back down the stairs and phoned my daughter in haste.

"Lindsay!" I nearly shouted. "You and Danny need to come home right away, Maddie's been kidnapped!"


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: I'm SO SO SO SO SORRY it took me so long to update this story... I ran into a bad case of writer's block, trying to figure out what to do next. I hope you haven't given up on Danny, Lindsay, and Maddie, because I know where I'm taking this! PLEASE REVIEW, it'll help me write faster.**

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Chapter 26

"Kidnapped?" I'm beside myself, and I'm so shocked I nearly drop the phone. "What happened?"

"I put her to bed, and then a few hours later I went to check on her, and when I did her bed was empty! Oh God, I don't know what to do!"

"Did you call the police?" I demanded, sounding harsher than intended.

"I called you first." Her voice is shaking with unshed fear, rage, and tears.

"Edith, call Mac Taylor," I instructed, gripping Danny's hand as tightly as I could. "He'll know what to do, and for God's sake, DO NOT touch anything." I hung up the phone and looked at Danny with tears in my eyes.

"Danny, let's go!" we grab all our things and run. We run to the car and we race back home to New York. I swear it took us less than 6 hours, Danny was driving so fast. We got out of the car and saw Mac coming out of our apartment.

I ran up to him and looked him square in the eyes.

He shook his head.

Tears rolled down my face. Good God, what was going to happen to my baby?

"Mac, I'm begging you, find Maddie." I'm grabbing his shirt lapels, shaking in my skin. I'm so worried for my baby girl that I think I'm gonna break down right in front of him.

"I will, Lindsay, I swear I will." He kisses me on the cheek, turns from me and walks back into Danny's house. I know he has to process the house and he'll be into my personal belongings, but I don't care… I want my baby girl back; and if that's what he has to do to find her than so be it.

I could hear Danny over with Edward and Edith. He's nearly out of his mind with worry, and I can't tell if what he's saying is rational or not.

"We trusted you to look after her!" he's shouting. "Pa, c'mon, how in the hell did this happen?"

"Danny, we just put her to bed," Edward is trying to calm him down. "Whatever happens I'm sure we can find her."

"Where's Louie?" Danny asks, turning from his parents (how could his father be so calm at a time like this?), rage building in his eyes, "he has something to do with this, _I know he does_!"

_Louie… Sonny… Tanglewood…_

Good God, they have my baby! _The Tanglewood Boys have my baby!_


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: I know, I know, it's been a long time since I updated, but I had to work through some issues in my personal life and some writer's block related to this chapter. Don't worry, writer's block is all gone now! I know where I'm going with this story now! Reviews make me write faster, and any ideas are welcome!**

**A/N 2: This chapter contains descriptions of sexual violence against a child, but it is essential to the story... it helps develop the plot. Alas, if you're uncomfortable with such things you can pick the story up in Chapter 28... you have been warned.

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Chapter 27 

_The Tanglewood Boys have my baby girl! _No, no, no it can't be happening, it can't! I worked too hard to see everything fall apart!

"I'm gonna kill him!" I yell, jumping into the car. Danny is so enraged he jumps right in beside me. We drive to Louie's apartment and break down the door.

"Louie!" Danny shouts. It echoes. "Louie, where the bloody fucking hell is Maddie? What the hell did you do with her?"

I hear banging on the inside of a cupboard.

"Hear that?"

"Momma!" I hear more screaming. The banging is getting louder and louder.

"Maddie!" I yell back, "Maddie, keep screaming!"

"Momma!" she screams again, "Momma! I'm in here!" there's banging on the door again.

"Kick again, Maddie, I can hear you…"

I hear another kick. It's coming from the sink. Underneath the sink.

I throw open the door and see my little girl with her hands bound in front of her.

"Oh…" I gasp. I gently pull her out of the cupboard. I pull the tape off her wrists and hug her tightly. "Oh my baby…"

"Momma…." she's crying, the tears running down her cheeks, her eyes red. There are scratches and bite marks all over her arms and legs. Whatever the boys did to her... God help me...

"Baby, who did this to you?" Danny asked, stroking her hair as we leave his apartment. " Did they touch you??"

Maddie nods. "One of them... he... he hurt me bad!"

"Baby, what did he do?" I ask, pulling her closer.

She's quiet, and that can only mean one thing.

They raped her?

* * *

"What did he look like?" I ask.

"Was it Louie? If it was Louie so help me God…"

"No, Daddy! Uncle Louie tried to help me!" Maddie shouts over her Daddy's rambling. "The two other guys who were with him… they hurt him real bad." She's crying even harder now. "The man... Uncle Louie said his name was Salvador..."

"ZABO!" Danny yells. No... Salvador Zabo did a number on my baby? I'm gonna KILL him.

Danny and I are stunned by this bit of news. Obviously standing up to Zabo and Sonny Sassone meant Louie was in trouble, but Louie is no where to be seen. If he was beaten so badly where is he now?

I ask Maddie the same question.

"I dunno, but I heard them say they were gonna take him to Giants Stadium."

Dear God, no!


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: Oh my God I updated! Here's Chapter 28 now, your next taste (it tastes like strawberries now). Reviews make me VERY happy!

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Chapter 28 

Giants Stadium…. That's where… never mind. Danny is absolutely enraged… I've never seen the man so angry.

But of course, I'm just as enraged as he is, perhaps even more. Salvador Zabo took away whatever innocence my little girl possessed. I want to kill him… kill him for what he did to my baby.

"Lindsay, take Maddie back to the precinct…" Danny's rage is hardly suppressed now. I know what he has in mind… kind of. He wants to find Sonny, Louie, and Salvador, and I've a pretty good idea what he's planning to do.

"Maddie, honey, we have to go to the hospital." I whisper to her.

"Wanna see Auntie Stella first…" she whispered back, weak and overtired.

"No honey, Auntie Stella will meet us there, okay?" I see her nod as I carry her out to the car. Danny quickly races us to the hospital before heading out to Giants Stadium. That was the last I saw of him. Then it hit me. I get on my phone to Mac before Maddie can say "Mommy".

* * *

I'm running into Giants Stadium, the bright lights burning the back of my neck as I run on to the field. I can feel the rage rising in my throat, and I can hear sirens… at this point I don't care.

"Hey Zabo!" I yell, just as they're digging. I'm playing around the fact that I know what he's done. Louie is still safe for now, but… it's no use for me to go over to him. I can't let my guard down in front of these guys. The sirens are getting closer….

He turns and looks at me, his steely gray eyes piercing. He drops the shovel and moves toward me. "What?"

"Yeah, what…" I hold steady, not letting my emotions show through. "Why'd you do it?"

"'Cause she was a bum lay…" he smirks at me.

Oh that's it! I lose control. The sirens are right in the stadium now, and I hear Mac and Don rushing over to us. I don't care. I charge at Zabo, effectively knocking him over and putting him a choke hold. I pull out my standard issue Glock and hold it to his head. Sonny, well, I can see he's got his hands up in surrender, knowing full well Mac can take him down with one bullet. And I suppose the fact that I'm holding a gun to his partner's head far outweighs the fact that he is surrendering.

"You think you're so **big**, don't ya?" I scream at the man I wish I could kill right about now. "You think you're so big and **mighty **you gotta beat my brother half to death and rape a little girl, don't ya?"

"Danny!" Mac's voice of reason penetrates the fog that is my rage against Salvador Zabo. "Danny, put the gun down!"

"You violated my little girl, you son of a bitch!" I scream over the voice that I swear belongs to God. "Rot in Hell!" I strengthen the choke hold I have on him, almost enough to make him pass out.

"Danny!" I look up and see, through the tears in my eyes, Don with his own gun trained on me. "Danny, put the gun down!"

"NO!" I shout back at them. I'm so enraged I want to beat the hell out of him. It's a compulsion so strong I can't ignore it anymore.

"You're no better than they are if you pull the trigger!" he shouts at me. Suddenly something clicks in my head and I take my finger off the trigger. I'm starting to lower the precious metal in my possession and loosen my hold when...

Suddenly someone jumps on my back and I'm suddenly struggling with whoever it is. I'm so blinded I hear a shot ring out, hit the ground hard, and pass out.


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: oh my God, it's updated! Again, just to refresh, I own no one but Maddie and Stephen. But since Maddie has Danny's and Lindsay's DNA in her, does that make them mine too? No, it doesn't... but I sure wish it did. Anyway, here's your next taste. PLEASE REVIEW... after all, my muse feeds on reviews and makes me write faster. **

**WARNING: FLUFF AHEAD!**

**Okay, I'm done rambling... onward...

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Chapter 29**

_CRACK_

That was my rib

_CRACK_

That was another rib.

"STOP!" I hear someone yell as they throw themselves over my back. "Don't hurt my daddy!"

_Maddie?_ I see Sonny's foot stop in mid swing. _Why isn't Lindsay stopping this? Why is she getting mixed up in this?_

"Come on, Sassone," I hear Flack call to him. "I know you're not even _that_ cold hearted."

I assume he shrugged because I felt another good kick in the ribs and a glob of spit hit my cheek. I heard Mac yelling and reading him his rights as Stella did the same to Zabo. Flack is soon by our side as Maddie lays over me, still to protect me.

"Danny…" I hear the New York accent in his voice. I can feel his hand on my head. "Danny, bro, talk to me. You a'ight?"

"Little worse for wear but I'll live…" I grumble as Maddie slides off my back. Don helps me up and I limp over to my wife, followed closely by my daughter. Lindsay runs toward me and wraps her arms around me tightly. I marvel in her scent, amazed at how loving and caring this woman is. I've never been with anyone like her before. Of course, I knew that when I married her but you get the picture.

"Oh Danny…" she whispers in my ear. She helps me walk out to the car and we drive to the hospital. Once I'm all checked out and my ribs are repaired we drive home. Maddie is finally asleep in her car seat, and I'm numb on the painkillers Doc told me to take.

We pull up to my apartment building and get to my place. It's late, so we put Maddie to sleep on the bed we put in the spare bedroom (which will later be redecorated), and she helps me to the bed. She moved all her things into my apartment the day I closed Stephen's case.

She lays me down on the bed carefully. Slowly, as to not hurt me further, she helps me take off my shirt. Carefully laying me back down, she discards the shirt and pulls the blanket up around my shoulders.

She kisses my temple. "Good night, sweet prince."

"Good night, my Montana…"

* * *

And for once, I don't mind the nickname. I crawl into the bed beside him and curl up next to him, finally settled in the place I always knew I should've been. 


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: OH MY GOD! I UPDATED THIS STORY! I hope you haven't given up on Lindsay, Danny, and Maddie, because I know I'm finishing with it soon. LOTS OF FLUFFY GOODNESS AHEAD! PLEASE REVIEW! and Merry Christmas.

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Chapter 30**

I awake next to Danny. No surprise there… I _am_ his wife after all. I stumble out into the kitchen in my pajamas. I'm fumbling for the coffee pot when suddenly a little pair of arms wraps me around the waist.

"Good morning, Mommy," Maddie greets me.

"Good morning, Maddie," I answer as I pour coffee for myself. "Your dad's still sleeping." Suddenly I have an idea. "What do you say we make him breakfast?"

"YAY!" she shouts until I put a finger to my lips. She quietly moves around the kitchen and pulls out his favourite cereal. "Is cereal okay?"

"Nah, I got a better idea," I hear a voice behind me. It's Danny. He gives me a good morning kiss.

"Daddy, you're awake!" Maddie is so bright and chipper, no wonder her dad marvels her. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Aw baby girl," he laughs. "I'm hurting, but it's nothing your Ma can't fix…" he kisses me again. Every day I fall further and further in love with Danny. He's a wonderful father, and every single second he proves himself. I may not have liked some of the choices he made in the past, but he was mine now.

"Danny, not in front of her…" I whispered.

"EEEEEEEEW!" I hear. Maddie is balking at the sight. I know she doesn't like to watch us kiss, but today she'll just have to deal with it. When I break away from her father I see what's bothering her.

* * *

I have these itchy red spots everywhere, and I'm scratching them. They hurt _really_ bad, and I can't seem to spot itching. They're all over my arms and my legs, and I can feel some on my face too.

"Mama, I'm itchy!" I complain.

"Don't scratch, Maddie…" she says as Dad picks me up and puts me in bed. Daddy pulls the covers up over me and pulls a chair up beside my bed.

"Daddy, you don't hafta stay with me,"

"You're my girl, of course I have to," I saw Mom come in with a pair of oven mitts and hand them to Dad. He slips them on to my hands.

"What are those for?" I ask as Mom turns me on to my back and pulls up my shirt just enough to rub lotion on the spots.

"To make sure you don't scratch," she says. "You have the chicken pox Maddie, and when you have chicken pox it's very important that you don't scratch, because if you do, the bumps could open and bleed and then you could get an infection…"

"Am I gonna die?" I ask her, looking up at her mother as she placed a hot water bottle by her side.

"No honey," Danny answers, "having the chicken pox stinks, but if you have them now you'll never have them again."

"Oh okay…" as Mom tucks the blanket around me and leaves, Danny stays in the chair.

"Read me a story, Daddy," I ask.

"Sure baby girl," he goes to my bookcase and pulls out a book. I can't see the cover, but when he sits back down, I see that it's "The Wind in the Willows," my favourite. Mom used to read it to me before I fell asleep every night.

_"The Mole had been working very hard, all morning, spring-cleaning his little home." _Daddy begins. I know the story off by heart, and I say it with him as I feel my eyes start to close.

I'm asleep before he even finishes the first page.

* * *

I smile as I watch Danny run his hand over our daughter's forehead.

"You didn't have to do that, you know," I say to him as he gets up, walks out of her room, and closes the door behind him. True, we're married, but I still have the mentality that he may, at any moment, walk out on us. I'd done it to him, not telling him about Maddie, who's to say he wouldn't want revenge?

"Lindsay," he pulls me to him and kisses my hair. I marvel in his scent. He smells of the forest after a good rain. "I love you, and I love Maddie. I would've have read to her no matter what. Whether she had chicken pox or not."

I crane my neck up to reach his lips.

"You're the greatest man I've ever known," I tell him.

"Can I?" he asks, pointing to our bedroom.

I kiss him again. "I thought you'd never ask." I let him take my hand and lead the way, all the while grinning.


End file.
